HOBBEMA, Alta. – An RCMP officer says deadly violence on the Samson Cree reserve in central Alberta won’t end unless residents stop supporting gang members and come forward as witnesses.
Sgt. Patrick Webb said Tuesday it’s a “good guess” the latest shooting is gang-related.
Officers questioned several witnesses after a 23-year-old woman was shot outside a house early Monday. Moments later, more bullets were fired at a nearby home.
“Some individuals are not at all conducive to supporting the investigation,” said Webb. “Right now we have had some information, but certainly not enough to lay a charge.”
The shooting occurred next to the home where five-year-old Ethan Yellowbird was killed July 11. The boy, a grandchild of band Chief Marvin Yellowbird, was struck in the head by a bullet fired from outside his bedroom wall. It was the second shooting on the reserve that day.
Webb confirmed the boy was a relative of the latest homicide victim, but there was no evidence yet linking the two killings. Friends and family on Facebook identified the woman as the child’s aunt – Chelsea Yellowbird.
Although some people haven’t co-operated with police or spoken publicly about the violence, they have posted both angry and sympathetic messages on the social networking site.
“I have so much hate inside!!! … loserz cowards,” read one post on the page belonging to Chelsea’s sister, Krystal Yellowbird.
“You guys call urself men u guys call urself gangsters,” said a post on the page of Buddy Bull, Ethan Yellowbird’s stepfather. “1st my son now my lil sister … u guys think this is done its just starting.”
“I wish the violence wud stop,” said a message from friend Sheena Potts.
Band council officials did not return calls Tuesday but have spoken previously about the disturbing violence in the community. They issued a public plea after Ethan was killed two months ago for residents to help the RCMP.
But there has been no progress in that case, said Webb, who added officers met again Tuesday with the band council to discuss the crime problem.
“We have people who are very adamant that crime has to be stamped out on the reserve. They want a safe and caring community,” said Webb. “But at the same time we have a small number of people who are endorsing crime. They have the information that we need.
“Those people have to make a decision about stepping forward and saying, ‘This is wrong and it has to stop.”‘
About a dozen gangs have been fighting over the drug trade on the reserve over the last few years. Webb said 60 per cent of the 14,000 residents are under 18 and especially vulnerable to the lure of gang money and status.
Guns are their weapon of choice and drive-by shootings are common, said Webb. “It seems to be their method of intimidation or a reaction to anything at all.”
There are police and community programs aimed at keeping kids out of gangs, said Webb. And more officers have been brought in from other detachments to patrol the reserve as needed.
But a cycle of gang retaliation, combined with the lack of witness co-operation, means there is no quick fix to the problem, he said.
“It will take a long time to turn this around.”
The violence goes back to at least 2008 when 23-month-old Asia Saddleback was shot as she sat at a kitchen table eating dinner. She survived, but the bullet is permanently lodged between her liver and spine.
After that shooting, the band pledged to curb violence and crime. It imposed a nightly curfew for teens and started a gun amnesty project.
But within three months, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed on the reserve. Relatives confirmed he was a gang member. A 20-year-old woman was also shot in the head when her home was riddled with gunfire.
Last November, a 28-year-old man standing in his living room on the reserve was struck by several bullets in another drive-by shooting.
But an RCMP officer suggested after Ethan was shot in July that violence had actually gone down.
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